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Candidate Statement: Rick Jacobs for Board of Health

By contributor,
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My name is Rick Jacobs. I am a physician and I am running for the Board of Health. My wife Trish and I came to Hopkinton as newlyweds 35 years ago. After graduating from UMass Medical School, I served as Chairman of the Department of Radiology at what is now UMass Memorial Medical Center.

After two decades of clinical practice, I joined a large medical research company, PAREXEL International, and was fortunate to be able to stay right here in Hopkinton as young parent of four pre-teen kids. During my tenure as Chief Medical Officer and SVP, my division managed the research of medicines leading to 83 regulatory approvals, mostly from the FDA; these included 15 Breakthrough Therapy approvals which, by definition, were medicines considered by the FDA to be the most important medicines that were undergoing research in the United States. Some of these immunotherapies have since become “household” names due to the dramatic successes in the treatment of cancer. During this part of my career, I met directly with the FDA multiple times and became intimately familiar with some of the most rigorous government regulations and associated auditing methods.

My four kids are now adults scattered across the country, and Hopkinton remains my home. I currently serve on the Hopkinton Cultural Council (HCC), the marketing committee of the Hopkinton Center for the Arts (HCA), coach for the Hopkinton boys varsity tennis team and several local non-profit advisory boards.

I believe that my healthcare, research and regulatory experience which served to improve the lives of large populations of people with some of the severest disease worldwide as well my dedication to the Hopkinton community makes me uniquely a qualified candidate to serve on the Hopkinton Board of Health.